This exhibition is the outcome of a months-long exchange between designers and researchers, exploring how spatial design can translate complex scientific ideas into tangible, thought-provoking experiences. Together, they investigated four urgent research topics that aim to close loops in production, consumption, and environmental systems—key to building a circular economy.
The featured projects respond to scientific research on:
- Insects on manure – Dr. Leo Beukenboom
Students: Falera van Balen, Raluca Nedelea-Stolz, Sonya Levchynska, Doris Peterfi - Biopolymers from sewage sludge – Dr. S. Picken
Students: Liza Zazimko, Zofia Glinkowska, Pim Schumacher - Alternatives to non-organic fertilizers – Dr. Martha Bakker
Students: Minwoo Park, Christian Kennecke, Jonathan Falk, Emma Verrijt, Darya Eroglu - Self-healing concrete – Dr. Robert Kleerebezem
Students: Elze Kurtinaityte, Jaap Schreven, Sunghee Joe
Through installations, spatial narratives, and material experiments, the students reflect on the role of science in society and the potential of design to foster new forms of understanding and cohabitation.
Closed Cycles is part of the IAFD’s broader research programme Cohabitation, and was developed in parallel with the Master Non-Linear Narrative (NLN) at KABK, creating a rich interdisciplinary dialogue.
